Oh. Now I think I see the difference between bad "adultification" and a healthy encouragement to our kids to become successful, productive, self-sufficient members of society.
The problem is when you put the kid in a situation where he feels solely responsible for other people's overall well-being, particularly people that ought to be taking care of themselves, and make the kid feel like a failure when those other people bring harm upon themselves, or even when those other people allow themselves to be "anti-validated" by something the child does or fails to do. This places the kid in a no-win situation, and teaches them to continue to assume way too much responsibility for other people's well-being and emotional health.
Sound about right?
a fine and enviable madness, this delusion that all questions have answers, and nothing is beyond the reach of a strong left arm.
